Artichoke Spinach Pizza

This is a yummy pizza that is far from ordinary. I love the flavor combination of spinach and artichoke hearts. I found this one on twopeasandapot.blogspot.com . These girls have some seriously awesome recipes! Next time you want a gourmet pizza, this is the one you want! And if you use skim milk and skim milk cheese, it is relatively low-fat! (I think it would also be yummy with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, or roasted red peppers on top...mmm!)

Spinach Artichoke Pizza
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons flour
1½ cup milk (any fat content)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ ounce (¼ cup) parmesan plus 1 ounce (½ cup)
7 ounces fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped (I think frozen, thawed and well-drained would work as well)
1 pizza dough recipe  (my favorite can be found here with my BBQ pizza recipe, remember this dough recipe makes 2 pizzas)
6 ounces (1½ cup) shredded mozzarella (skim works great)
1 (14-ounce) can artichokes, drained, rinsed and dried, quartered

1. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 525ºC.
2. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the garlic and red pepper flakes; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the flour; continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Stir in the salt and ¼ cup (½ ounce) of the parmesan.
3. (skip this if you use frozen spinach) Meanwhile, add the spinach (if the spinach isn’t damp from being washed, also add a couple tablespoons of water) to a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until the spinach just wilts, about 1 minute. Remove the spinach from the pan and place it in a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze the spinach as dry as possible, then add it to the béchamel from step 1.
4. Flatten the dough, then pick it up and gently stretch it out, trying to keep it as circular as possible. Curl your fingers and let the dough hang on your knuckles, moving and rotating the dough so it stretches evenly. If it tears, just piece it together. If the dough stretches too much, put it down and gently tug on the thick spots.
5. Dust a pizza peel (or the back of a large baking sheet) generously with cornmeal and transfer the round of dough to the peel. Rearrange the dough to something reasonably circular; stab it several times with a fork. Spread the spinach mixture over the dough, then top with the mozzarella, artichokes, and the remaining Parmesan.
6. Transfer the pizza to the hot baking stone, and bake for about 6-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is spotty brown. Let the pizza cool for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

 The sauce is the trickiest part of this pizza, but it's not hard. This is what it should look like.

This is your delectable pizza with sun-dried tomatoes on half.

Hawkins Hash

So there's not really a theme this week, besides "dishes I've made recently and want to share with you." This is something my mom used to make as an easy weeknight meal. Her maiden name is Hawkins, hence the name Hawkins Hash. It is now a favorite in our house. It is a versatile dish, but I'm going to share with you the most common way that I make it.

Hawkins Hash
1 package good smoked sausage like Kielbasa, chopped--you know, the ones that come in one big loop that you can eat right out of the package
1/2 onion, diced (optional)
1/2 bell pepper (optional--it's WAY better with the onions and peppers, but sometimes I don't have any!)
2-3 baked potatoes, diced--I usually leave the peels on (use up those leftovers)
4-6 eggs
shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
butter

Saute the onions and peppers in 1-2 Tbs. butter until cooked. Remove onions and peppers from the pan and add the potatoes or sausage (or both if they fit) in a single layer and cook for 2-3 minutes until brown and crispy then flip and repeat (you may need to add more butter to keep them from sticking). Remember, the potatoes and sausage are already cooked you just want to add a little color to enhance the flavor. So cook as little or as much as you want. Once everything has the amount of crispiness and color you want, add the onions and peppers back in. Whisk the eggs in a bowl then pour over everything else. Season with salt and pepper. The eggs will act kind of like a glue to hold everything together. Cook on medium-low until eggs are all cooked. It helps the eggs cook more evenly if you stir and flip with a spatula while the eggs are cooking. Once eggs are cooked, sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately with salsa or ketchup.
I usually serve this with toast and fruit and call it dinner! Or it makes a very hearty breakfast, especially rolled up in a tortilla as a breakfast burrito!

 Chop it all up

Give it some color!

Add the eggs

Cheese it up and eat it up!

Salsa Ranch Rollups

This recipe comes from my cousin Natalie via her sister Stephanie's Tried and True Cookbook. It is a favorite in our house. I love the flavors and the versatility. I usually just throw in whatever leftover veggies I have lying around. And these are so filling and full of lots of yummy stuff, they are a meal all on their own.

Salsa Ranch Rollups
flour tortillas (While I love the cook n serve tortillas, pre-cooked ones work best here.)
chicken cooked and chopped (great for leftovers)
salsa
ranch
your favorite cheese, shredded (I usually use cheddar, but Swiss is good too)
your favorite "sandwich" veggies, chopped (I usually use tomatoes, cucumbers for crunch, and bell pepper for bite)
butter for grilling

Heat 1-2 tbs. butter in large frying pan. Spread about 1 Tbs. salsa down the middle of each tortilla. Then squirt about the same amount of ranch dressing on top. Sprinkle with chicken, cheese, and veggies. Fold tortilla into thirds as tightly as you can without cracking the tortilla. Place rollup in melted butter, seam-side down. Grill until golden and crispy and cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Cut in half to serve and devour!

Prep all your ingredients

Start with the salsa and ranch

Add all your toppings

Roll em up and cook until golden

I dare you to eat just one!

Chicken Salad

I LOVE chicken salad! But I rarely order it at a restaurant because I am somewhat picky about my chicken salad. And I rarely make it for myself because one batch is way too much for just me. So I love a chance to help throw a baby shower so I can make chicken salad. I was asked to bring little sandwiches to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago and my chicken salad on cream puffs paired with these were such a hit!

Again, I forgot to take a picture. This one is courtesy of sheknows.com via google images. This one looks like it has red onion in it. I've never tried it that way, but I think it sounds like a good idea!

Chicken Salad
-2 large cans of chicken--the ones you get at Costco (This may be considered cheating, which I'm totally ok with, but it also keeps the chicken salad from getting too dry)
-1/2 cup mayo
-2-3 Tbs. spicy brown mustard
-1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
-1/4 tsp. each garlic powder and onion powder
-1 tsp. curry powder
-2-3 Tbs. pickle juice (optional)

-1 apple, finely chopped (Braeburn or Gala are good. Nothing too sweet, nothing too tart.)

Ok, so most things in this are approximated because I don't usually measure with this one. I will give you my best estimates, but I would recommend being conservative, tasting as you go, and adjusting according to your preferences. :-)

-Drain all the liquid off of one can of chicken and half the liquid off the other. Dump chicken into the bowl of a food processor.
-Add mayo, mustard, pickle juice, and seasonings
-Pulse until everything is well blended and chicken is fine, but not mushy
-At this point taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. If the chicken is too dry, add more mayo.
-Once the seasonings are adjusted, fold in finely chopped apple
-Serve on your favorite bread. I would recommend a good croissant, toasted sourdough, or the cream puffs found below!

Cream Puffs

These cream puffs are so easy, so versatile, and so fancy looking! I usually fill them with a mixture of pudding and whipped cream or cool whip using a pastry bag. But last time I made them I sliced them open and filled them with my yummy chicken salad for a baby shower. So yummy! This recipe is not original, but I've seen it so many different places that I don't know who to give credit to. Just know that I am not smart enough to come up with this on my own!

*Note: This recipe does not double well. I needed a double batch to have enough for all the chicken salad so I made one batch, and while they were baking I cleaned the pot and made another batch.

 Again, I forgot to take a picture, but this is about the color you are shooting for. This image is courtesy of whatscookingamerica.net via google images.

Cream Puffs
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup flour
4 large eggs

Bring water and butter to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Remove from heat and immediately add all the flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from pan and forms a ball. (1-2 minutes) Add eggs one at a time, vigorously beating after each one until smooth. The dough will be a strange consistency. Just trust that as long as it is smooth and consistent throughout, it is correct. Drop by teaspoon or tablespoons full (depending on how large you want them) onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes. Or until puffed and golden. DO NOT open the oven early. It will cause them to collapse. A glass oven door is helpful, but if you don't have one resist looking until 20 minutes into cooking. If they do collapse, it's not the end of the world. The filling will mostly re-inflate them. Once golden brown, remove from oven and let cool completely before filling. Fill as close to serving as possible.

Teriyaki Chicken

It doesn't get much easier than this. Serve it over rice with your favorite veggie on the side and you've got yourself a meal!

Teriyaki Chicken
boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins (I always use tenderloins, and I don't even bother to (gasp) defrost them first.)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Place chicken in casserole dish. Combine last 5 ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. (I told you it was easy!) Flip the chicken about 15 minutes into baking. Remove foil last 5-10 minutes. Serve chicken, onions, and sauce over rice.

Baked Sour Cream Chicken Fingers

My daughter loves to eat anything that can be dipped. Sometimes dip is the only way to convince her to eat. So chicken fingers are a big hit at our house. (We're still learning how to dip and bite rather than dip and lick several times before biting, but that's a totally different issue.) I came up with this one night, and everyone in the family enjoyed them. Low fat, super easy, and delicious! The sour cream keeps the chicken extra moist and gives it great flavor. I think your family will enjoy these as well!

Baked Sour Cream Chicken Fingers
-Chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut against the grain into strips or "chicken finger" shape
-3/4 cup sour cream (I always buy reduced fat)
-2-3 Tbs. milk
-salt and pepper
-panko bread crumb, plain or Italian flavored (panko bread crumbs make the chicken fingers extra crispy)

Preheat oven to 375. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Mix sour cream and milk until sour cream is a pourable consistency. Coat chicken in sour cream mixture, shaking off any excess. Then roll in bread crumbs and place on greased cookie sheet. (You can try baking the chicken on a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet to get the chicken extra crispy. My cooling racks were too big for my cookie sheets.) Bake for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Coat, bake,

and serve! So easy, so good!